On May 9, 2013, the daily mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since measurements began in 1958. This marks an important milestone because Mauna Loa, as the oldest continuous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement station in the world, is the primary global benchmark site.
See the latest readings at “The Keeling Curve” web page:
CNAP colleague Jim Means is now running the WRF model on his home computer and providing hourly output over the San Diego region at:
http://pegmatite.com/wrf_index.php
Two initialization (model forecast start) domains are used for his twice daily simulations. One is an 11-km outer domain and the other is a 3.7 km inner domain. Both of these are initialized using data from GFS (the Global Forecast System — data provided from the US National Meteorological Center).
You can select from 22 variables that will animate by hour for 36 hours. You can zoom to look more closely at the San Diego area. Below is a snapshot of the temperature forecast for 00Z (4pm local time) on Saturday, May 11, 2013. This is a 24-hour forecast and shows warm temperatures far inland with comfortable temperatures near the coast.
(image courtesy of CIMSS blogger Scott Bachmeier)
The above image shows an eddy that developed off the southern California coast on Sunday, February 17, 2013. This image is a MODIS true color image from CIMSS at SSEC/University of Wisconsin – Madison. The eddy formed in light winds coming from the west over the San Clemente Island (left upper-center of the image above). This perfectly circular vortex (eddy) was not convective (no precipitation) and was contained in the stratocumulus cloud field. San Diego is to the right (east) of the eddy and the Salton Sea can be seen off the upper right edge of the image. A visible satellite loop showing the formation of the eddy can be found at:
The full image can be found at:
http://eosweb.ssec.wisc.edu/browse_images/aqua/2013/048/2013-02-17_2051-2058_HSDO_010403_QKM.jpg
2012 drought has severe US economic impact with a corn yield the lowest it has been since 1995 (image from World News).
The 2012 drought (left) and Hurricane Sandy (below) topped the list of extreme
weather events that led the year 2012 to be the second costliest in the US at an estimated $11 billion.
Read more about these extreme weather costs from NOAA:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/preliminary-info-2012-us-billion-dollar-extreme-weatherclimate-events
and several media sources such as The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/21/climate-change-natural-disasters
Burned out homes in Breezy Point (picture from Mike Groll/AP).
CNAP analysis shows a cold front exiting through southern California leaving the California and Nevada region with mostly clear skies and ready for Santa’s arrival. Track Santa with NORAD or Google.
The image below is from the CNAP research camera in Soda Springs Meadow, Devils Postpile National Monument, taken Monday afternoon, 24 December 2012. The sun is shining off the fresh snowfall. Warm holiday wishes to you and yours from the CNAP research group. 
The retreat of early morning fog from the Napa Valley of California is shown in the sequence of images above for August 31, 2012 (8am to 9am local time). These 1km visible satellite images show albedo (amount of sunlight reflected from the surface). High albedo shows cloudy areas (depicted as white above). Low albedo indicates clear areas (shown as black above). These images were created by CNAP researcher Sam Iacobellis (click here to see more about Sam’s work with marine layer clouds). Summer fog is an important aspect of the climate that makes Napa a premium wine grape growing region. CNAP explores regional aspects of climate important to Napa and is pleased to collaborate with the Napa Valley Vintners and growers in the region such as David Graves of Saintsbury.
CNAP researcher Mike Dettinger was recently interviewed by KPBS about his work on atmospheric rivers and the coastal observatories that have been and are being established to monitor storms that ride along these rivers. Details on the news story can be found at: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/dec/11/san-diego-researcher-helps-track-atmospheric-river/
The image below shows water vapor over the eastern Pacific Ocean with darker brown colors indicating moisture laden air poised over and heading into California (from 20 December 2010).
